Effect of Gd³⁺ doping on microstructure and magnetic properties of Ni–Zn–Co ferrite

In this study, the Gd³⁺-doped Ni–Zn–Co ferrite was prepared by the solid-phase method. The chemical formula is called Ni_0.10Zn_0.30Co_0.60Fe_2-xGd_xO₄. The doping amount x ranges from 0 to 0.1, and the doping amount change of each sample is 0.02. The (XRD) and FTIR results showed that the sample is a cubic spinel structure. The size of the lattice parameters ranged from (8.3790 ~ 8.4037)Å. It can be observed by the SEM the morphology of the sample is hexahedral structure, the EDS results showed that the prepared samples contained Ni, Zn, Co, Fe, Gd, and O elements. Besides this, the approximate equimolar ratios of the different elements are determined, which is consistent with the nominal composition of the proposed chemical formula of the compound. The M-H loop shows the soft magnetic properties of the sample, the (M_s) is between (77.56 ~ 92.78)emu/g and (H_c) is between (49.20 ~ 57.38)Oe, (M_r) is between (5.16 ~ 7.38) emu/g, and the trend of (M_s) and (H_c) values is approximate, indicating that the magnetism of the Ni–Zn–Co ferrite can be fine-tuned by tailoring their composition.